Truss-pad



(Model.)

B. THOMPSON.

TRUSS PAD.

Patented Oct. 2, 1883.

- INVENTOR l JLLKMc/L ATTORNEYS.

, UNiTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ELIAS THOMPSON, OF OOMMEROIAL POINT, OHIO.

TRUSS-PAD.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 286,090, dated October 2, 1883. Application filed July 6, 1883. (Model.)

1 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ELIAS THOMPSON, of Commercial Point, in the county of Pickaway and State of Ohio, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Truss-Pads, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention more especially relates to truss-pads for abdominal hernia, in which the sac escapes from the cavity of the belly as, for-instance, in the case of inguinal herniaat a short distance above the pubic bone, or

, Pouparts ligament connected therewith; and

the invention consists in a certain construction and special configurations of the pad, whereby better protection is secured against the slipping of the pad from its place, and the sac, or escaping portion of the rupture is better supported and prevented from slipping downward and away from the pad in or during different movements of the body, substantially as here inaftcr described.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification,

in which similar letters of reference indicatecorresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 represents an inner face view of my improved pad; Fig. 2, an outside or back view of the same; Fig. 3, a section on theline am in Fig. 1, and Fig. 4 a section on the line 1 1 in Fig. 3.

A in the drawings'is the pad, which may be of wood or any other suitable material, either suitably covered or plain. Like other pads, it is of convex form, both in direction of its height and width, and of partly oval shape, pointing upward 011 its supporting or inner face, (L; but it is brought to nearly an edge on its upper part, thereby giving a better support to the sac than when made of a blunt rounded shape, or without such edge finish andwhich is of great importance instead of its lower portion being made convex, or to correspond with its upper portion, its lower edge, b, is made straight or slightly concave, and a concave recess, 0, extending across it, formed in its base, the same shelving upward in an outwardly direction, or to ward the back d of the pad. By thus doing away with a convex extension of the lower portion of the pad, which construction often interferes with the pubic bone and allows of the sac to escape from the pad in certain movements of the body-as, for instance, in a doubling position of the body, causing the pad to be'liftedand by substituting forsuch construction the shape and construction I have here shown and described for my improved pad at its base or lower portion, 7) c, and making the convexity of its face a to commence, as it were, from thelower edge, bthat is, to have its greatest convexity at or close to its basethe sac or escaping portion of the rupture is firmly supported far upon the rising convex surface of the pad, as at a point, 8, or thereabout, thus preventing all possibility of the sac leaving the pad. Furthermore, the straight or slightly-concave configuration of the lower edge, I), and the concave formation 0 in the fiat or outer surface of the base of the pad, gives an easy'socket fit of the pad over the pubic bone, and forms, with said bone, a loose or enlarged ball-and-socket joint, as it were, which in certain doubling movements of the body, and throwing the weight upon the limb nearest the part affected, prevents the pad from slipping out ofplace.

The pad may be carried by the usual hoop attached to the back of it, and the truss" be provided with the ordinary or any suitable straps for securing it to the body or person.

To more fully explain certain features or peculiarities of the pad, it may be observed that in shape it somewhat resembles a vertical section of a cone rounded at the apex and basal corners, and that its inner face, a, transversely is circular or slightly oval, but vertically from the base I) is of a nearly uniform oval shape; also, that the marginal portions of its curved inner face, where the same are met by the marginal portions of its flat inner face, make a figure of oval shape, as shown in the drawings. These and other peculiarities of construction, as hereinbcfore described, com bined with the thickness of the-pad at its base I), afford a much better support to the sac.

I do not abandon or dedicate to the public any patentable features set forth herein and not hereinafter claimed, but reserve the right to claim the same, either in a reissue of any patent that may be granted upon this application or in other applications for Letters Patcut that I may make. c

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent As an article of manufacture, the truss-pad A, of convex configuration in various directions on its face a, converging upward and laterally nearly to an edge, and having its greatest con- 

